Back Porch New York

Katie Holmes ran in the New York Marathon last weekend, finishing in 5 hours, 29 minutes and 58 seconds. With all due respect to anyone who can finish a marathon at all, that's not a particularly good time.

And that has some people asking questions about why she was allowed to run, because not just anyone is allowed to enter the race. The New York Marathon has different categories of runners, including those who qualify for the race (the qualifying time for women this year was 3 hours and 23 minutes, a time Katie Holmes wouldn't be able to touch), those who get in via a lottery, and those who run to raise money for charity.

Holmes was none of those things. So how did she get in? Because she's famous.

"Celebrities and people with name recognition are important to every sport, it adds glitz and glamour," Richard Finn, director of media relations for the New York Road Runners Club told "Access." "Does Billy Crystal have trouble getting tickets to the Yankees World Series? No. Do celebrities have trouble getting reservations in hot restaurants? No. In fact, they probably don't even pay for the meals much of the time."

I think what it breaks down to is this: Is the New York Marathon a sporting event? If so, celebrities shouldn't get in ahead of anyone else, as sports need to be played on a level field. But I don't really think it is a sporting event. I think it's more a social event, and in that respect, it's a somewhat unfortunate fact of life that at social events, the Katie Holmeses of the world get treated better than you and me.

Last year, when Paula Radcliffe announced that she was pregnant, it seemed like that it could have been the end of her career as a world-class athlete. She was already 33 years old and struggling with foot and back injuries, and pregnancy and motherhood tend to make training difficult.

But today Radcliffe, who gave birth to Isla on Jan. 17, won the New York Marathon.

"I've really, really missed it," Radcliffe said. "It's way more fun than cross training in a pool or cross training in a gym, and that's what it's all about. That's what keeps me motivated to work hard and to cross train hard is just getting out there and enjoying the atmosphere."

Although the British Radcliffe finished well short of the world record of 2:15:25 that she set in London in 2003, her time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, 9 seconds beat the Ethiopian Gete Wami by 23 seconds. The bridges and hills of the New York course, which spans all five boroughs, makes New York more difficult than London, but it seems that no obstacle can slow Radcliffe.

Did any major American corporations have sponsorship contracts with the 1980 Soviet hockey team? No? Well then why is Coors running this commercial?

Look, I have the utmost respect for Kobayashi as an athlete. He's one of the greatest pound-for-pound athletes in history. But when he's in a bitter rivalry with an American, in a sport as American as hot dog eating, and their big competition is on the Fourth of July, shouldn't American corporations unite behind that American? I'll start drinking the beer that has a commercial with Joey Chestnut.

Hat tip: SimonOnSports.

Does competitive eating have a scandal on its hands that could call into question the integrity and credibility of the sport?

I thought so after watching several replays of the end of yesterday's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, when six-time defending champion Takeru Kobayashi puked in the final seconds. International Federation of Competitive Eating rules are clear about reversals: Vomiting equals disqualification. Kobayashi's official total should have been zero.

But it wasn't. It was 63. Why? I put that question to Major League Eating President Richard Shea in a telephone interview this morning, and he told me this:

"The judges' ruling was that the reversal occurred after the buzzer. They also didn't characterize it as a full reversal because it didn't hit the table."

I believe the judges are incorrect: It appears to me that a few seconds remained on the clock when Kobayashi puked, and although I initially thought Kobayashi caught all of his vomit, I've looked at the replay yet again and I don't think that's right, either. However, I have the benefit of instant replay, and the judges didn't. Maybe they'll implement it at next year's competition.

If you want to watch Takeru Kobayashi regurgitate at yesterday's Hot Dog Eating Contest, you'd better watch it here:

Because you won't see it on ESPN.

On ESPN Radio this morning, Doug Gottlieb said management at the Worldwide Leader has ordered the staff not to show replays of Kobayashi throwing up at the end of the competition.

"There was an edict last night to stop showing the regurgitation," said Gottlieb, filling in for Mike Greenberg on Mike and Mike in the Morning.

Co-host Mike Golic asked, "We can't show that?" and Gottlieb replied, "We can't show the puke."

Golic said, "I've got an issue with that." So do I. Vomiting is a part of competitive eating just as concussions are a part of football, and ESPN shouldn't sugarcoat the truth.

I've been to a lot sporting events in my life, but I've certainly never seen anything even remotely like the scene today at Nathan's 4th of July hot dog eating contest. Of course, a good portion of that might have to do with the fact that it's held in a dirty old hot dog stand at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues on Coney Island, with an old hotel with boarded up windows right on the other side of the street from the competitors. Coney is every awful stereotype of northeastern boardwalks come true; throwing in 50,000 people and an atmosphere that resembled a heavyweight fight was just icing on the cake.

I got there about an hour and a half before the contest started, to see a monster crowd already on hand. And oh, what a crowd it was. Sadly not all of my pictures turned out as well as I would have hoped, but there was PETA out in force with signs informing me that pigs are as smart as dogs (I guess they missed the memo that Nathan's hot dogs are all beef), two girls wearing "Marry Me Joey" t-shirts, a large contingent of Japanese tourists and your normal collection of Coney Island's finest residents.

Takeru Kobayashi is the greatest athlete in the history of competitive eating, but today he couldn't hold it all in:

Kobayashi was not disqualified, but he lost to Joey Chestnut anyway, as Chestnut managed 66 hot dogs to Kobayashi's 63. Both marks eclipsed the previous world record of 59.5.

Previously at FanHouse:
Kobayashi Will Eat on Fourth of July
Hot Dog King Kobayashi has Jaw Arthritis
Kobayashi Might Skip Hot Dog Eating Contest
Joey Chestnut Shatters Kobayashi's Hot Dog Eating Record
Kobayashi vs. Bear: 'He Doesn't Know It's a Competition'

Thanks to Blog of Hiliarity for the video.

The Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest championship belt is back on American soil. In a Fourth of July performance for the ages, Joey Chestnut has defeated six-time defending champion Takeru Kobayashi.

Kobayashi took second place with 63 dogs, which shattered the previous world record ... except that Chestnut, eating right next to him, ate 66 dogs.

Kobayashi appeared to vomit at the very end of the competition, which would have been a disqualification, but the judges apparently allowed his total of 63 to stand.

The story of the contest beforehand was Kobayashi's arthritic jaw, but that was a non-factor. Kobayashi had the best performance of his career, but Chestnut was just a little bit better.

This is the live blog for today's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, which features a matchup between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi that has to be considered the greatest showdown in the history of competitive eating. We'll give you minute-by-minute updates when the contest begins, around 12:45 p.m. local time on Coney Island in New York.

Kobayashi's arthritic jaw is the talk of the hour, and ESPN has reported that it's the equivalent of a groin injury for an NFL player. He got acupuncture this morning and says he'll give it a go, but he might not be at 100 percent.

We are underway! In the early going, Kobayashi is showing no ill-effects of his jaw injury. He's got five dogs down in less than 40 seconds. Still, Chestnut has opened an early lead.

There's still time to place your bets on today's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, with the Joey Chestnut-Takeru Kobayashi battle shaping up to be the biggest event in the history of competitive eating.

And if you place bets at Bodog.com, Chestnut is the heavy favorite. Chestnut is listed at 1-2 odds, with Kobayashi set at 9-5. The rest of the competitors are so far behind the top two that the odds against the field are 9-1. Bodog sets the over-under for the number of hot dogs the winner will eat at 58, which is one and a half short of Chestnut's world record.

Kobayashi's jaw injury makes this a particularly difficult event to predict, and TMZ notes that most online sports books aren't even taking bets on the event.